ChangeNOW Summit 2020: SUEZ entrusts the design of its pollution & carbon sink to the Austrian artist Peter Kogler
Among the AirAdvanced range of air treatment solutions presented at the summit, the pollution & carbon sink is specially designed by Peter Kogler, the Austrian artist. By transforming this innovation into a piece of art, the artist is reinterpreting the importance of the link between the challenges of technology and the environmental stakes. "I have always been interested in seeing how far my visual and artistic expressions can be transformed and adapted to different materials," he declares. Peter Kogler has often worked in public spaces and made his mark on urban landscapes like the halls of the Vienna subway (2012), Innsbruck city hall (2004), Nuit Blanche Paris (2004) and Toronto etc.
Developed in partnership with the French start-up Fermentalg, the pollution & carbon sink improves air quality thanks to the power of microalgae. The algae capture fine particles (PM10), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and excess CO2 and transform them into green energy. In cities, a pollution & carbon sink can absorb the equivalent of the pollution emitted by 150 vehicles. SUEZ has already deployed five pollution & carbon sinks in France, including one in Poissy city centre, near Paris.
The pollution & carbon sink is a concrete solution from SUEZ reflecting the Group's ambition to promote environmental technology and to accelerate the world development of solutions focused on performance and environmental quality. SUEZ provides concrete and innovative solutions to local authorities and industries all over the world: real-time monitoring of air quality in “Paseo Banderas” (Santiago de Chile) and in the Balearic Islands’ harbours, air treatment in the Parisian subway (IP’AIR project) and the support of Dunkirk Urban Community (France) in its “Innovation Territory” project.
The SUEZ CEO Bertrand Camus restated the importance of preserving the planet and the vital elements of water, air and earth during the presentation of the Group strategic plan, Shaping 2030. Considering today’s stakes, the Group is committed to making air quality one of the key areas for research and innovation over the coming years. As of now, more than 10 million euros have been invested in this field.